«The current situation in Latvia’s transit industry is dramatic, especially considering that this industry is the second largest in the country and earns the economy a billion euros. Officials claim something is being done, that tariffs are being prepared. But no one has told us that anyone intends to create a single offer for all and provide a more competitive tariff,» – notes President of Baltic Association – Transport and Logistics Inga Antane.

«We need a new LDz infrastructure development plan, but there is no document that would help us understand what is important and how we should develop further. We need a single offer to be compiled before the Chinese summit, which will be taking place from 4th to 7th November. During this summit, Latvia will be visited by the prime minister of the world’s largest economy. It is now the second half of September. I have yet to see any offers be put up for review. It is impossible to come up with such an offer without the involvement of businessmen and stevedores. Even if there is such an offer, we have yet to see and discuss it. November is the last chance we will have to present it,» – Antane said in an interview to Rīta panorama programme.

«It is hard for me to comment why we haven’t sat down with officials behind one table – I have personally petitioned to provide assistance on behalf of the association to write, study and put together a road from A to B. Up until now officials have likely considered it their responsibility. Nevertheless, their homework has a deadline, and it was yesterday. If the offer does not include a price list for stevedores, it means it is not the final offer, and we have no way of telling the Chinese how much their services will cost in Ventspils and Scandinavia. No one has asked us this so far and it is because of that there are serious concerns,» – added Antane.

According to her, ‘one of the most serious cases and the harshest lesson for everyone and Latvia’s economy is the Kālija parks case. It is the large specialized terminal at Ventspils Freeport. It currently transships very little even though its capacity is 7.5 million tons a year. Because of destructive political processes and hesitation with decision-making processes, we are unable to prepare appropriate offers for cargo owners. Kālija parks lost cargoes in 1999, when it was actions of officials that resulted in our inability to offer Belarusians, who wanted to send cargoes through Kālija parks, any flexible and competitive tariffs. Those cargoes are now transshipped through Klaipeda, which had reacted appropriately and offered good options for Belarusians, who built a terminal there. Now Klaipeda handles ten million tons of mineral fertilizers a year. This means Latvia has lost hundreds of million euros that could have otherwise gone through Kālija parks. Even in relation to metallurgy cargoes Lithuania had reacted well and had offered a specific cargo owner lower tariffs. This resulted in metallurgy cargoes leaving Latvia in 2004. The problem at the time was that we failed to react to market demand with an appropriate tariff offer. This problem persists to this day. I believe there are multiple reasons for that, including lack of competence, hesitation with decision-making processes and continuing destructive processes. Kālija parks’ case clearly shows what we have come to and what we can expect in the future if we fail to react to change in demand again. 1999 marked a decrease in Belarusian cargoes transshipped through Kālija parks. This is something we cannot recover. We have lost Belarusian cargoes for good.’

«Cargo declines are noticed not only in Ventspils Freeport, but also at Riga Freeport and LDz. It is a complex problem that is characteristic for the whole of Latvia. The problem is that we have not been able to sit down, discuss the situation, set up deadlines for our homework and prepare for November, when Latvia will be visited by the prime minister of the world’s largest economy,» – Antane concluded.

In her interview to LTV 7, Antane emphasized that Latvia has a very well-developed infrastructure, railway and three large ports, which means Latvia can handle large cargoes. Nevertheless, Latvia has to think about more competitive tariffs, which are not competitive at the moment and prevent Latvia to react to market demand change.

Members of the European Parliament have overwhelmingly supported what has been negotiated upon in the joint EU-UK progress report in Brexit talks and have recommended Brussels to move on to phase two negotiations on the future relations of the parties.

The silent period – the time for Christmas wishes – has begun. Snow covers Tukums, and the city slowly becomes white. Everything is quiet at Pils ielā. The phone rings, interrupting a quiet moment of watching snowflakes fall under the light of a lantern. «You’re here for us, aren’t you?» BNN goes to interview manager of Merci Cafe Anija Rabkeviča (23) and cafe’s founder Rinalds Pluģis (22). They tell about their experience of ‘surviving’ in Latvia.

Latvian Transport Ministry’s developed development plan for the transit industry, which was presented to Saeima’s National Economy Committee this week, states that raising competitiveness in the country requires subsidizing railway cargo transports.

Only political discussions were held proposal on the merge between Latvijas Mobilais Telefons and Lattelecom, and it is good that this matter has been taken off the agenda, said LMT President Juris Binde in an interview to Rīta Panorāma programme of LNT.

In the Estonian capital, the result of a legal dispute between water utility company Tallinna Vesi and the Estonian Competition Authority is that consumers are considered to be able to claim tens of millions of euros in compensation for overcharged water tariffs that have been in place for a number of years.

It was decided at a meeting of representatives of Latvian Association of Regions (LAR) that the party will not work with For Latvia’s Development. The party has also decided to start in 13th Saeima elections with its own list of candidates.

Italy has declared a state of emergency in its natural gas sector as a large explosion at a major natural gas hub in Austria killed one person, injured at least 18 and is prone to affect supplies in central Europe.

«To maintain GDP growth rate, the government should address priority matters like prevention of mandatory procurement component costs and electricity price rise to reduce costs for both businesses and residents. It is very important for employers to have the energy policy closely tied with production, because processing industry is the main driving force behind development of Latvia’s national economy,» says Latvian Employers’ Confederation (LEC) Director General Līga Meņģelsone.

The clients of Irish low-fare airline Ryanair will face inconvenience before Christmas as pilots and crew announced industrial action seeking to achieve union recognition and better conditions in the company, which is criticised by unions that it fails to offer pilots the same pay and conditions as its rivals.

Money laundering activities and grey economy are in decline in Latvia. However, corruption in the country’s public sector and smuggling activities remain serious problems for the national economy, as noted in the report on unaudited economy, corruption in the public sector and money laundering activities in Latvia published by Latvian Chamber for Commerce and Industry on Tuesday, 12 December.

Former Georgian President, now opposition activist in Ukraine, Mikheil Saakashvili, has been released from arrest by a judge, who denied a request from prosecutors to subject him to house arrest, but the case against him continues.

Latvia’s Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnačs has met with his Macedonian colleague Bilen Saliji, who arrived in Latvia to sign the Memorandum for Cooperation between Latvian Justice Ministry and Macedonian Justice Ministry.

The majority or 65% of Latvian respondents mentioned that whenever they make travel arrangements, they try to avoid regions in which there is a high probability of terrorist attacks or natural catastrophes, according to the latest Latvia Tours Travel Index.

The only offer extended to the now former state secretary of Latvia’s Interior Affairs Ministry Ilze Pētersone-Godmane to help her stay in state administration was the offer to become a candidate for the most of head of Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital, as reported by Latvijas Avīze.

«Latvia continues supporting the solution that can be achieved through direct talks between Israel and Palestine with compliance of interests of both sides and making Jerusalem the capital of both countries. The European Union has to remain a reliable partner for Israel and Palestine. We have to continue the open dialogue with both sides and ensure EU’s unity in the Middle East peace process,» says Latvian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s parliamentary secretary Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica.

Countryside tourism businesses are threatened by unfair competition and growing bureaucracy, as emphasized by Latvian Countryside Tourism Association Lauku ceļotājs after discussing this season’s results at four regional business seminars.

As Estonia seeks to relocate part of government agencies out of the capital Tallinn, Estonian government ministers have been reminded that by the middle of January an action plan is required from them on the relocation of the central offices of 13 Estonian state institutions.

The volume of exports continued growing in November, reaching EUR 1,070,600 at the end of the month and setting a new record for exports for one month’s time. This export index is the highest in the history of statistical records in Latvia, Finance Ministry stated in its report, commenting on data from the Central Statistical Bureau.

Governments of European Union member states are aware of torture and abuse of refugees and migrants in Libya, Amnesty International has stated, insisting that trying to reduce migration, the EU is actively financially supporting a «system of abuse and exploitation» on the Mediterranean coast of Libya.